Rajkumar Santoshi reveals Madhuri Dixit shot a comedy scene despite the stress of raid at her dad’s house

Madhuri Dixit is so dedicated to her work that she does not let her personal stress affect her performance, filmmaker Rajkumar Santoshi has said in a new interview. Rajkumar recalled the time when they were shooting in Ooty and she had to catch a flight from Bengaluru to Mumbai. (Also read: In pics: How Madhuri Dixit enjoyed a life of anonymity and independence in US)

Rajkumar and Madhuri first worked together in Anil Kapoor-starrer Pukar. She also featured in his 2001 film, Lajja, in which she played the role of a theatre artist who is shunned by her lover when she is pregnant.

Citing an example to explain how Madhuri does not let her personal stress affect her work, Rajkumar told ETimes, “We were shooting in Ooty. The production in-charge came to me and asked me if we can wrap up by 2:30 pm because Madhuri might have to leave by the evening. I told him I will try. During lunchtime, I got to know that there was a raid at Madhuri’s father’s house and she was tense about it. Madhuri’s mother was with us at the shoot. Despite this tension, Madhuri was shooting for a comedy scene. She didn’t let the director know that she was under stress and had to reach Mumbai.”

He added, “And the flight to Mumbai was supposed to be boarded from Bangalore. If I had packed up by 3 or 4 pm, she would have gone from Ooty to Bangalore, and then she would catch the night flight to Mumbai. If the shoot got delayed, she would have missed the night flight and would have had to wait till morning. Despite these odds, she didn’t let the director know that there was stress in her personal life.”

Madhuri made her Bollywood debut as a young bride in the 1984 film Abodh. Soon, she mesmerised audiences with her skills in Tezaab (the highest-grossing film of 1988). Tezaab also had her most popular dance number – Ek Do Teen. She went on to feature in movies such as Ram Lakhan (1989), Tridev (1989), and Kishen Kanhaiya (1990) to Mrityudand (1997) and Lajja (2001). She was most recently seen in Netflix film The Fame Game, which also marked her digital debut.